Buoy with explosive anchor



Sept. 18, 1962 A. F. MOELLER 3,

BUOY WITH EXPLOSIVE ANCHOR Filed Oct. 2, 1961 I 2 Sheets-Sheet L o 1 i FIG.2.

Z 2 I 2 INVENTOR I 45 Z w YADOLPH F. MOELLER f f j A d i 5' 44 36 BY M 7. M

ATTORNEYS Se t. 18, 1962 A. F. MOELLER 3,054,123

BUOY WITH EXPLOSIVE ANCHOR Filed Oct. 2, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r- 1 4| INVENTOR ADOLPH F. MOELLER L FIG. 4. BY

ATTORNEYS United States 3,054,123 BUOY WITH EXPLOSIVE ANCHOR Adolph F. Moeller, Panama City, Fla, assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Oct. 2, 1961, Ser. No. 142,445 3 Claims. (Ci. 99) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), sec. 266) This invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

The present invention relates to buoys and, more particularly, to buoys suitable for use as temporary aids to navigation and for marking, at the surface, the position of underwater objects.

Standard Navy dan buoys are cumbersome to handle, bulky to store, and generally employ concrete clumps and mooring wire for anchorage.

An object of the present invention is to provide a compactly packaged expendable marker buoy of relatively light Weight.

Another object of the invention is to provide a marker buoy so moored as to minimize walking due to wave action.

A further object of the invention is to provide a buoy having an explosive driven anchor.

Other objects, as well as advantages, of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view in section of a buoy ready to be launched;

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of a firing rod employed in anchoring the buoy;

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation of a buoy performing its intended terminal function; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic wiring diagram of a circuit arrangement suitable for firing the anchor-driving explosive.

An anchor buoy incorporating the invention is shown in FIG. 1 utilizing an anchor which may be a commercially available spear gun point used by skin diver-s. The anchor 10 includes a shaft 11 and flukes 12 held folded against the shaft 11 by a retaining ring 13 which is movable axially of the shaft 11 to permit spreading of the flukes 12. The anchor shaft 11 is mounted in a barrel 14 and retained therein by a shear pin 15. The proximal end of the barrel 14 is provided with a bushing 16 adapted to contain a squib charge 17 which when fired, as hereinafter described, ejects the anchor shaft 11 from the barrel 14 with considerable force. The distal end of the barrel 14 has an enlarged bore to accommodate the anchor 10 and has suitably secured thereto a flanged end plate 18 provided with an aperture for a firing rod 19. An anchor cable 21 is secured at opposite ends to the barrel 14 and the anchor shaft 11 with its excess length faked along the barrel 14 and secured thereto by a readily rupturable fastening, such as by electricians tape 22. The proximal end of the barrel 14 is secured to -a bracket member 23 by a threaded plug 24. A single pole double throw switch 26 is secured to the bracket 23 and has its toggle lever 28 extending into a detent 29 in the firing rod 19. An axle 31 mounted on the bracket 23 rotatably supports a flanged reel 32 on which is wound a mooring line 33, the free end of which is secured to a float member 34 which is preferably made of plastic foam secured to a metal tube 25 having a weighted end 27. As here shown, the metal tube 25 carrying the float member 34 extends to the end plate 18 and surrounds the reel and switch assembly carried by the bracket 23 as well as a lice housing 35 surrounding this assembly. The firing rod 19 extends parallel to the barrel 14 and through the barrel end flange 18 and is provided with an annular end cap 36. This firing rod 19 also extends through an arm of the bracket 23 where it terminates in a flattened portions 37 shouldered against a slotted threaded stud 38 protruding from the internally threaded core of the reel 32 and with the flat portion 37 extending into the slot of the stud 38 for holding the stud against rotation. Thus, when the mooring line 33 starts to unwind from the reel 32, the stud 38 is withdrawn into the reel 32, leaving thefiring rod 19 free to move upward as viewed in 'FIG. 1. At some convenient location, such as on the remote arm of the bracket 23, a battery clip 39 is mounted for the reception of a battery or batteries 41 for firing the squib charge 17 when the toggle lever 28 is moved from its position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 to its other position to include the battery 41 in series with the squib charge 17. The electrical circuit is indicated in FIG. 4. As was above pointed out, the toggle lever 28 extends into the firing rod detent 29 so that, when the enlarged distal end 36 of the firing rod 19 strikes the ocean floor, it is retracted to actuate the toggle lever 28 which fires the squib charge 17 and to move its flattened end-37 into the path of a pin 42 protruding from a flange of the reel 32 to thereby prevent further rotation of the reel 32. In order that the reel 32 may rotate freely until the firing rod 19 is retracted, a fla-t 43 is ground on the rod 19 to provide clearance for the pin 42.

When a position at sea is to be marked, the battery 41 is inserted in the battery clip 39; a tape, it used, holding the float member 34 to the housing 35 is removed and the buoy dropped overboard. When in the water, the float member 34 with its Weighted tube 25 remains on the surface while the remainder of the assembly sinks paying out line from the reel 32 which, after a few turns, causes the retraction of the stud 38 from blocking position for the firing rod 19, thereby permitting the firing rod 19 to actuate the toggle lever 28 when striking the bottom. It is pointed out that this temporary blocking action per formed by the slotted stud 38 is to prevent premature firing as upon impacting the water or otherwise. When bottom contact has actuated the toggle lever 28, the squib charge 17 fires to drive the anchor 10 into the bottom, during which time the ring 13 is moved from its retaining position to permit the flukes 12 to pivot to expanded position, the tape 22 holding the faked anchor cable 21 is ruptured leaving the buoy anchored as shown in FIG. 3. The anchor-carrying assembly and the area of the end plate 18 provide suflicient reaction so that most of the movement resulting from the firing of the squib 17 is imparted to the anchor 10. In order to assure that the firing rod 19 remains in blocking position for the flange pin 42 and thereby prevent Walking of the float member 34, a notch 44 may be provided in the rod 19 to be engaged by a spring 45 carried by the end plate 18.

The weighted end 27 of the metal tube 25 assures an upright orientation of the float 34. Visibility of the marker buoy may be increased by inserting in the tube 25 the shaft of a flag or other signal device. The barrel 14, the bracket 23, and the housing 35 are made of aluminum or other relatively light material whereas the end flange is relatively massive to aid in causing the anchor assembly to sink in the desired upright position. Provision is made to permit flushing of water from the volume enclosed by the flange 18 and the end cap 36 such as by perforations 30 in the flange 18.

It will be noted from FIG. 4 that the electrical circuit employed provides a short across the terminals of the squib 17 in accordance with accepted practice and that this short is not removed until the switch 26 connects the battery 41 across the terminals of the'squib 17. It has been found that the low voltage battery, e.g., 1.5 volts, utilized makes it feasible to permit free flooding of the several electrical components which results in the considerable advantage of not requiring a water-tight compartment for housing such components.

The enlarged 'end 36 of the firing rod 19 may be quite small when the anchor is to be employed on relatively hard bottoms. Where soft bottoms are involved, it is de sirable to provide the greater impact area illustrated.

While, for the purpose of disclosing the invention, a preferred embodiment thereof has been described in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but is of the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A buoy for'marking a preselected position in a body of water comprising:

a buoyant member and an anchoring assembly,

a reel supported rotatably on the anchoring assembly and having a length of mooring line wound thereon, the free end of said line being attached to the buoyant member so that line is withdrawn from the reel as the anchoring assembly sinks to the bottom, said anchoring assembly including an anchor member,

an explosive charge for driving the anchor member into the bottom; and

means for exploding said charge,

' said charge exploding means comprising a battery,

a switch movable to connect the battery in circuit with said charge, and bottom contacting means movable for actuating said switch only after suflicient line has been drawn from said reel to rotate said reel a preselected small number of revolutions.

2. A buoy in accordance with claim 1 wherein the switch actuating movement of the bottom-contacting means blocks rotation of said reel.

3. A buoy for marking a position in a body of water and adapted to be dropped into the water including:

a buoyant member comprising a tube having buoyant means secured to one of its ends and its other end weighted so that, in its normal floating position, it provides a vertically oriented socket, and

a nonbuoyant anchoring assembly releasa'bly contained in said tube so that it submerges to the bottom when the buoy is dropped in a body of water,

said anchoring assembly including:

an explosive charge for anchoring the assembly,

an electric battery for detonating said charge,

a switch connected across said charge and movable by the impact of the assembly on the bottom to connect the battery to said charge,

a reel supported rotatably on said assembly and having a length of mooring line wound thereon and attached to the buoyant member so that the line is withdrawn from the reel as the assembly sinks to the bottom, and

means on said assembly for automatically locking the reel against rotation when said switch moves to connect the battery to said charge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1... as. n 

